Chapter : 10
“Your Highness, I’m sorry, but—”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Despite the significant age difference, Balombrosa tended to trust Elrcier. In fact, all the current commanders of the knights were people he trusted. So he raised his head willingly. Of course, his irritation hadn’t fully faded.
Elrcier spoke carefully.
“The Tower Lord will probably return sometime today. Shall we have Miss Wiz leave the palace then?”
“Ah, I see. I suppose the young lady will stay until tomorrow and leave the day after?”
“…….”
“Hmm… then let her leave as scheduled. Leaving her in some debt might not be bad. If the library is opened, won’t she show the books she has more readily?”
Even without that, he thought she would show them willingly. Still, he wondered if such an inscrutable woman even understood the concept of ‘debt.’ But starting from his subordinates, everyone owed her a lot, and there was little reason to oppose it. Elrcier silently agreed.
Then he received a word of commendation from the still-irritated monarch and left the room.
Standing at the door, he hesitated for a moment. It was a brief pause. After making up his mind, he asked the attendant standing by the door if he happened to know Wiz’s destination.
The attendant replied that Wiz had likely gone to the library, and another attendant had followed her to guide her.
Since the library had been opened, she had reportedly refused meals and immersed herself in reading. Each time, Elrcier had simply let it be. There was no reason for him to feel strongly about a woman he hardly knew burning with a passion for learning.
It was the same now.
He headed toward the library without particular caution.
So when he suddenly heard a sound, he couldn’t immediately understand it. It was just as he neared the library.
“……Yom…, he Shotanba, rah Lesho!”
For a moment, Elrcier wondered what the sound was, then realized belatedly that it was Onnevalle. The voice wasn’t screaming, but it was loud enough for him to hear.
Loud, yes, but he couldn’t recall what had just been said.
He hadn’t paid attention. After all, how often would someone need to be wary of people speaking Onnevalle in the palace of Ario? Even though there was no reason to be upset, he furrowed his brow.
Just five minutes earlier, he had heard the Tower Lord’s voice right beside him. Every syllable was important. And yet he had missed this.
He stopped at the corner of the leafy hedge path.
“So it is.”
The person most likely to be having that conversation with the Tower Lord was, naturally, Wiz. It had been obvious from the start.
Yet Elrcier hesitated.
Was it her voice, the language she used, or the fact that it was Wiz herself responding that unsettled him? He wasn’t sure. Without knowing why, he felt slightly shaken.
Wiz clearly spoke in Ario.
“I love you too.”
“…Mua Pistone!”
An objection to not listening and behaving poorly.
“Of course. I know. Tower Lord, you love me too.”
“Uhhahaha.”
This was just a whimper.
“Zen puh concept…, Zen puh.”
She had the concept all wrong. Completely wrong.
“Thank you. I wish you luck as well, Tower Lord. Live long.”
“Uaaah…!”
…If the conversation had gone like this until now, it made sense that the Tower Lord’s voice had risen. There was no continuity in the conversation at all.
Putting that aside, what the Tower Lord had said was short and simple, yet worth considering.
Yesterday, upon arrival, he had spoken to Wiz in Ario when expressing anger. The reports he had received were much clearer to Elrcier. So he could immediately recognize that what was said yesterday overlapped with today’s words.
The word ‘concept.’
“So, anyway, Tower Lord, the risk of dementia is low for a while. Could you feel my heart toward you?”
“Eat it, you old man Tower Lord. Eat it twice, thrice, keep eating. Is that the heart you’re talking about?”
The Tower Lord asked in a calmer voice, suddenly switching to Ario. Elrcier slowly drew a breath.
“Nenio. I mean my heart that loves the Tower Lord.”
“Such sincerity popping out—how unfortunate.”
“It was only my second personality hidden inside speaking suddenly. It seems the demon inside wants to awaken. Perhaps the seal is breaking. Avoid it.”
“Ahh…”
A strangely trembling groan came from the Tower Lord.
The conversation ended there. A sudden silence fell, followed by the squeak of a door opening.
Elrcier finally moved forward.
A palace guard stood before the library. He hadn’t chased anyone away and had been talking in front.
Elrcier turned to see the figure leaving.
It was the Tower Lord.
His shoulders slumped.
Elrcier, though somewhat lacking in empathy, wasn’t completely insensitive. He understood the current state of this brilliant old man, and even empathized to some degree. A sigh escaped his lips.
The Silver Fox Squad commander averted his gaze.
Approaching the library, a guard saluted and tried to open the door. Elrcier stopped him and opened it himself. The door was indeed heavy, as if lacking oil, requiring a push with the palm.
Inside, Elrcier looked around.
“…Wiz?”
“Yes?”
A voice came from somewhere.
Among the countless bookshelves, Wiz peeked out. Her loosely tied brown hair fell.
Blinking at him, she fully revealed herself.
A book was already in her hands.
Her pale gray eyes looked at him quietly. Elrcier met her gaze in silence.
Soon, she smiled faintly.
“Welcome to the library.”
Wiz greeted cheekily, then disappeared back among the shelves.
Elrcier stepped toward her.
After watching her briefly read, he spoke with a faint smile.
“Your Highness said you may leave the palace the day after tomorrow.”
She lifted her head.
Wiz stared at his face for a long moment, then furrowed her brows seriously.
“Uh… do you know me?”
“…….”
He had once overheard Daniel complaining to Mini.
It was probably this.
Trying to recall or feign forgetting what had just been said, or yesterday’s encounter, he swallowed a moment of astonishment.
Whatever the truth, he didn’t truly know her now.
So he decided to use the method from the press room to help Wiz understand.
“When you wrote and sent letters to the Tower Lord, you were there.”
“Hmm. I think I remember…”
“Do you remember the Silver Fox Tower?”
“I think I do.”
Her answer was plainly indifferent.
Wiz had returned her gaze to the book, reading through the questioning.
Her attitude of prioritizing reading made sense, considering she was a scholar and former Deputy Tower Lord.
He would have normally objected, but he chose to ignore her rudeness. After all, he was the one who had come without regard for the king’s courtesy toward Wiz.
Elrcier watched her quietly.
The message from the king had been delivered, but there were still questions to ask, and conversation to have.
During that brief silence, the pages turned twice. Elrcier inhaled lightly and spoke softly.
“You don’t intend to leave with the Tower Lord?”
“Hmm. It’s probably best if Tower Lord remains as unseen as possible. Won’t he leave immediately and return?”
“Then what about you?”
“If I have to choose between the books and the Tower Lord, I choose the books.”
Her prior insistence on staying in the library with nothing but food as sustenance explained this statement.
Her words and actions were consistent. Elrcier smiled faintly.
Are all Deputy Tower Lords naturally so stubborn and elusive?
If the Tower Lord were a scholar consumed by pride and stubbornness, or a politician with patchy experience, then assuming he wasn’t truly ‘pure,’ Wiz was closer to a master of deliberate gestures, accustomed to showing things to others intentionally.
He recalled the earlier event.
Wiz knew Onnevalle.
The first book she had shown him on the day Daniel had guided him to her bookstore was in Onnevalle. The book she read now also seemed to be one. Dent Zenviser: The Beast’s Teeth, embossed in gold.
Elrcier studied her quietly.
Now that he knew she was a former Deputy Tower Lord, the monarch of Ario would keep her under observation in some way.
Then it was better to examine everything thoroughly, leaving no suspicion at all.
So he asked.
“Earlier, why did you pretend not to understand the Tower Lord’s words?”
“You heard?”
“I happened to on the way.”
“This is Ario.”
“…….”
He couldn’t understand.
A brief, almost casual answer, and yet—
The pages turned again. She smoothed the paper with her palm, then her gaze moved again.
Wiz continued without looking at him.
“If what you say aloud can be heard by others in Onnevalle, it would be fine to speak in Ario as well, wouldn’t it? If that’s the case, there’s no reason to use a foreign language. And this is the Ario palace…”
“…….”
“It’s natural to respect those who love Ario and have pride in it. Speaking a foreign language in front of people who might not understand it is rude.”
Apparently she meant the guards.
He said nothing and listened quietly.
Her reasoning was far more thoughtful than he had expected. She wasn’t simply forgetful or someone who betrayed the Tower; she could think for others in her own way.
Yet she immediately shifted to a playful topic.
“Someone said I’m good at talking behind people’s backs. I act fine in front, but I turn them into trash behind their backs.”
“…….”
“Maybe that’s why I feel like I’m turning the Tower Lord into trash now… but eh, probably not.”
“Ha ha……”
He gave a deliberately small laugh.
His throat felt tight.
This woman was truly unpredictable. Perhaps it was innate skill she herself didn’t notice. And yet… he couldn’t fully understand.
Truly couldn’t understand.
He stared at Wiz, voicing a denial he didn’t fully grasp himself.
In his short life, he had never encountered anyone so inconsistent.
An incomprehensible genius.
A strange person lacking common sense.
An individualist or selfish person acting as they please, ignoring societal expectations.
A genius with unusual standards for judging importance.
Mixed together, these were ingredients for disaster. Perhaps that was why she stood before him like one.
Elrcier collected himself. Even then, the sound of turning pages continued.
“Hmm. Hm. Hmm.”
“…….”
“Done.”
With a simple declaration, the book was closed.
The book in her left hand looked unusually large. He noticed her fingers tensing slightly to support the hardcover black back. It was indeed heavy for one hand. Yet apart from her fingertips reddened from blood, she held it effortlessly.
She paused while trying to move between shelves.
Watching the edge of the book, she gently moved her left hand holding it up and down like a wave. Yet her slightly furrowed eyes never left the book, and he watched calmly. Wiz let out a short sigh, a reaction tinged with lingering attachment.
Elrcier asked softly.
“Is there something wrong with that book?”
(To be continued in the next chapter)
